Lee thanks Lee Jae-yong for bold investment and swift execution as Chungcheong megaproject breaks ground

[Financial News] President Lee Jae-myung personally attended the groundbreaking ceremony for Chungcheong megaprojects on the 12th at Samsung Electronics’ Onyang Campus in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, lending his support to investment in advanced industries. He thanked Samsung Group executives and employees, including Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, for their bold investment decisions and swift execution, and pledged that the central and local governments would take responsibility through to the end for permits and the development of key infrastructure to ensure the investments proceed without a hitch.
At the groundbreaking ceremony held that day at the Samsung Electronics Onyang Campus construction site in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, President Lee said, “I am deeply grateful to Samsung Group executives and employees, including Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who made bold investment decisions and demonstrated the ability to execute them swiftly, as well as to the residents of Chungcheong’s cities and provinces who joined forces to make today’s groundbreaking possible.”
He continued, “Last July, businesses and the government made a promise to the public right here in Chungcheong: a bold investment plan aimed at making South Korea a global industrial powerhouse with an overwhelming technological edge. Just four months later, we are standing at the site where we are turning that promise into reality,” he said.
The three projects breaking ground that day are a semiconductor advanced packaging fab and an advanced display production line in Asan, and a high-performance substrate manufacturing facility for AI servers in Sejong City. President Lee said, “Today, right here in Chungcheong, three advanced investment projects that will reshape South Korea’s industrial map are breaking ground in earnest.”
Regarding investment at the Onyang Campus, he explained, “This investment will bring a new advanced packaging fab worth 6 trillion won, followed in stages by additional investments in advanced equipment totaling 40 trillion won. The site will go on to become a key hub for advanced HBM packaging.”
He also mentioned other investment projects in the Chungcheong region. President Lee said, “This wave of innovation is spreading rapidly across the entire Chungcheong region, not stopping at Asan and Sejong,” adding, “Preparations for groundbreaking are proceeding smoothly for a memory and advanced packaging fab in Cheongju, an AI data center in Dangjin, and a biopharmaceutical production facility in Osong.”
He also highly praised the efforts made by local governments as investment plans moved toward actual construction. President Lee said, “I know that the dedicated efforts of local governments played a decisive role in enabling these bold plans to reach the groundbreaking stage in just four months,” adding, “South Chungcheong Province and Asan City dramatically cut the time needed for permits to one-third of the usual level, clearing the way for companies to bring forward the start of construction.”
He then called for a round of applause to encourage local government officials who listened to businesses’ difficulties on the ground and achieved results through proactive administration. Their actions were cited as an exemplary case showing that local governments’ proactive responses can accelerate change on the ground.
President Lee said, “I promise that the central and local governments will work as one team and take clear responsibility through to the end for permits and the development of key infrastructure, including power and water, so that all investment plans—not only in the Chungcheong region but also in the Honam and Yeongnam regions—can proceed without a hitch.”
He also stressed that the benefits of investment should go to local residents, small and medium-sized enterprises, and small business owners. President Lee said, “What matters most is that local residents, too, should be able to share in the fruits of these enormous investments.”
He continued, “New opportunities for growth should open up for local small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners, and young people born and raised here should be able to work in Chungcheong, build a home and plan for the future without having to leave for faraway places to find good jobs.”
President Lee said, “Our government promises to devote all its policy capabilities to ensuring that these megaprojects do not stop at expanding companies’ production facilities into regional areas, but are completed as ‘growth for all’ and ‘genuine balanced national development’ that bring real change to the lives of local communities and the people.”
He added, “I am confident that the first shovel we turned together today will be a firm stepping stone—not only toward Chungcheong’s remarkable leap forward, but also toward building an ‘irreplaceable South Korea’ that no one can rival.”
The event was held under the theme “South Korea’s overwhelming technological edge unfolds in Chungcheong.” After the groundbreaking ceremony, President Lee will chair the fourth public-private joint review meeting on megaprojects at the site.

Meanwhile, at the groundbreaking ceremony for Chungcheong megaprojects that day, Chairman Lee Jae-yong stressed, “This site, once centered on processes for simply assembling and inspecting conventional semiconductors, will transform into a state-of-the-art HBM (high-bandwidth memory) hub—the heart of AI semiconductors. We promise another leap forward with today’s groundbreaking ceremony.”
Chairman Lee said, “As recently as 40 years ago, all you could see here was bare hills and unpaved roads. Today, it has become an advanced factory that assembles and inspects semiconductors—the rice of industry—and turns them into finished products.”
He continued, “I believe megaprojects are not merely an industrial strategy, but a historic challenge to redraw the future of South Korea,” adding, “I am confident that if the central and local governments and businesses join forces under the president’s leadership, we can create an opportunity for a great leap forward for the nation.”
He added, “With an even greater sense of responsibility, we will actively pursue megaprojects here in Chungcheong as well as in the Honam and Yeongnam regions, to create a success story for an irreplaceable South Korea.”
[email protected] Choi Jong-geun Reporter